


Stuck On You

by kyotoma



Category: Hat Films - Fandom, The Yogscast
Genre: AU, Multi, Soul Mates AU, Swearing, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6409123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyotoma/pseuds/kyotoma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone had a soul mate; everyone had a name on their wrist. Some people had two names, some people had more. Sometimes at the same time, sometimes after one another. Some people’s soul mates were romantic and some peoples were platonic but everyone had one. It didn’t change the fact that Smith absolutely hated the name on his wrist and resented the person it belonged to.</p>
<p>Based on the tumblr prompt of having your soul mates name(s) on your wrist!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The names we give ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my own personal take on the whole having your soul mates name(s) on your wrist AU. Based on the popular tumblr prompt but with my own twist lol. Gotta say thank you to Elliot for checking this for me <3

Smith stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist; he looked at his wrist, thick black letters spelling out a name that made his stomach churn. Everyone had a soul mate; everyone had a name on their wrist. Some people had two names, some people had more. Sometimes at the same time, sometimes after one another. Some people’s soul mates were romantic and some peoples were platonic but everyone had one. It didn’t change the fact that Smith absolutely hated the name on his wrist and resented the person it belonged to.  
He dried quickly and crossed the hall to his room where he swapped the towel for a pair of star wars boxers and a maroon hoodie, making sure the sleeve of the hoodie covered his wrist and the writing on it. He headed to the kitchen where he was greeted by his cheerful, red haired flat mate.  
“Mornin’ sunshine,” Katie smiled sweetly at him, pushing a full cup of tea across the counter to him.  
“Morning,” he smiled back, her presence almost immediately cheering him up.  
“D’you have any classes today?” She asked in a sing song voice.  
“A lecture at 3 just,”  
“Okay, good, can we go out for dinner after?” She smiled sweetly at him, passing him the piece of toast she had been buttering to him.  
“Yeah, sure…you wanna grab coffee before my lecture too?” Smith smirked, knowing his roommate could never resist a cheeky caramel latte, also giving him someone to walk to the campus with.  
“Yes!” She almost jumped up and down with glee at the idea of getting out of the flat, a week of intense revision for upcoming exams was finally coming to an end and they were both glad to see it end, a free weekend to relax being exactly what they both needed.  
Smith chuckled at Katie’s excitement as he finished his toast and headed back to his room to get dressed.  
When he was ready, now sporting a pair of dark blue jeans and brown combat boots, Katie was waiting for him by the door; she had dressed appropriately for the weather. She wore a yellow rain coat ,over her dungaree dress and tights, into which a large black scarf was tucked, a bag covered in badges slung over her shoulder.

When they finally reached the coffee shop on the edge of the university campus, the sun had come out making Katie’s fiery red hair shimmer as if it really was on fire.  
Inside Smith gave both their orders as Katie found them a seat in the corner.  
“Smith?” A familiar voice came from behind him and he turned, slight surprise on his face.  
“Trott! Alright, mate?” Smith grinned at the school mate he hadn’t seen in a while, “I didn’t know you moved back!”  
“Yeah, mate, got back last week. I was actually gonna call and see if you were still around.”  
Behind them the barista called Smith’s order and Smith smiled apologetically.  
“We’re sitting over there,” Smith pointed to Katie where she pulled a face and waved, making Smith chuckle, “You could join us if you wanted?”  
“Yeah if you have room for two?” As if on cue Trott nodded towards the man exiting the bathrooms, a tall man with dark hair who looked as if he was sponsored by superdry, judging by the superdry hoodie and jeans he wore.  
Smith looked at the table Katie had picked, fortunately it seated four. “Yeah mate, see you in a minute,” Smith grinned as he took their drinks from the barista.

“Who’s your friend?” Katie wiggled her eyebrows at Smith before he had even sat down.  
“His names Trott, we went to school together. You’d really like him,” Smith finished with a wink as Katie comically screwed her nose up.  
“What sort of name is Trott?” She wiggled her eyebrows again, making Smith giggle.  
“His real name’s Chris, Trott’s his second name,”  
Katie froze, looking at her covered wrist with furrowed eyebrows and Smith remembered the name that was wrote there. With a slight hesitation she pulled the fabric of her sleeve back slowly, as if to check she hadn’t made a mistake.  
“Do…you think…?” Her fingers traced each letter spelling out Christopher. She didn’t have time to say much else as she spotted the two men making their way over and yanked her sleeve back into place.  
“Introduce me as Cat, just in case,” She almost hissed her request at Smith as her eyes filled with anxiety, just in time as Trott awkwardly took the seat on the other side of Smith.  
He discreetly eyed up the girl on Smith’s other side as the young man behind him took the remaining empty seat.  
“Alright mate, this is Kat- uh…Cat.” Smith studied Trott’s face to see if his mistake had been noticed but Trott simply smiled at Katie in a friendly manner.  
“Nice to meet you Cat,” he grinned and her face began to turn the same colour as her hair and Smith stared at her dumbfounded, he had never seen Katie blush, ever.  
“And this is Trott and uh…” Smith trailed off as he realised he had no idea who the other man was.  
“Ross,” The man now known as Ross pitched in.  
Smith’s blood ran cold at the name as his own hand flew to his wrist. His fingers ghosted over the name hidden underneath his watch strap as if he had traced the letters of the name a million times before, which he had. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to work out the probability, coming short as maths had never really been his strong point anyway.  
It didn’t take a genius to know that this was surely impossible though.  
“You alright mate?” Trott asked, his voice sounding a million miles away even though he sat right beside Smith.  
“Uh…yeah. Nice to meet you…Ross,” The name tasted bitter in Smith’s mouth but he forced a smile anyway. Meeting the ice blue eyes of the man opposite him, he felt his stomach twist.

Smith had never been so glad to make his excuses and leave; his lecture had been a welcomed blessing. The rest of the conversation hadn’t exactly been horrible, mostly the recalling of memories with Trott from their school days together as Katie and Ross listened intently, laughing and making funny comments at the appropriate times.  
Smith had to stop himself wincing every time Ross spoke, finding it painful to break their shared gaze whenever the cool, ice blue eyes met his own.  
Fortunately before long he pushed the name out of his head as they joked, laughing together as if they had all been friends for years. Smith even managed to ignore the dread pooling in his stomach until he had left.  
Walking to his lecture on the other side of campus Smith quickly made sure nobody was too close before exposing the watch fastened on his left arm. He slid the watch off and froze in his tracks as his eyes analysed the thick black letters. It definitely said ‘Ross’, there was no denying it. But how was it possible? What were the odds that it was even this Ross? The odds that he and Katie would both meet their soul mates, at the same time? Smith ignored the anxiety that built in his chest as a small voice in the back of his head brought ideas he didn’t want to think about, like ‘How many Ross’ had he ever met?’ and ‘Ross isn’t really that common of a name’. He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he fixed his watch and sleeve back into place and entered the lecture hall, just in time to pick a seat before the lecture began.

The lecture flew by and Smith couldn’t actually recall a single word of it, focusing only on the blue eyed man that had begun to haunt his thoughts. At the same time as realising this was going to drive him crazy, Smith really didn’t want to find out the truth either.  
As he walked home he pulled his phone from his pocket and hoping the number hadn’t changed, he sent a text to the contact saved on his phone as Trotty2Hotty.  
‘Catching up was fun, we should hang again’  
The reply came almost instantly, ‘Of course mate, sounds great! Ross is free tomorrow, does that suit?’  
Smith grimaced as he read the text, realising he should have been more specific he sighed. It was too late to say no now. At least now he would have an excuse to bring Katie and if all else failed he could focus on getting them together.  
With another sigh he text Trott back and they arranged to meet the next day.

Katie was on Smith the instance he stepped through the door of their shared apartment, bombarding him with questions.  
"You okay? You seemed really off earlier,"  
"Yeah I'm fine," Smith brushed it off and changed the topic quickly, "So…do you think it's him?" Smith glanced at Katie's now exposed wrist, Christopher wrote on it in the thick black letters that would more than likely match the handwriting of the Chris in reference.  
"Yeah...I uh, I think it is..." Katie looked at Smith under her thick eyelashes, a look he couldn't quite read on her face.  
"Oh shit! Are you sure?" Smith scowled to which she grinned at him in reply, reminding him that not everyone felt the same as him in regards to soul mates.  
"Yeah...I think so...something just sorta, uh, clicked?" Her unsure and hesitant nature made Smith anxious for her but her checks flushed and eyes lit up in a way Smith had never really seen in her.  
“Anyway,” She changed the subject with a wink, “Now we just gotta find your soul mate for you…you could always start by telling me their name…?”  
"No thanks… anyway sucks to be you, ‘cause Trotty's got a teeny ween," Smith laughed as he took off down the hall to his room, barely escaping the slap he knew was coming his way.

The next morning Katie and Smith slid into a booth at the back of the café that sat in the centre of the university campus. Behind the counter Smith spotted Trott, apron tied around his waist as he prepared an order. After the order was ready and dropped off at a table near the door he made his way to their booth, sliding in beside Smith who sat facing Katie.  
“Alright?” He grinned sheepishly, hiding the apron under the table.  
“Nice skirt mate,” Smith laughed, hoping a joke would make him feel more at ease. He smirked briefly before relaxing slightly into the seat.  
“Ross should be here,” Trott peeled back his shirt sleeve to check the watch on his wrist and Smith spotted Katie as she sat forward, hoping to get a glance at the name on Trott’s wrist. Smith checked too, having a better position. He discreetly shook his head at Katie after a second; letting her know he couldn’t see it either and she slumped back in her seat with a slight sigh.  
“Anyway, what can I get you?” Trott broke the silence that had settled over the friends.  
“Two coffees and…nah, two coffees,” Katie ordered for them, cancelling the food as she remembered Smith’s unspoken rule of never eating before 12pm. “Grumpy over there doesn’t eat before 12…”  
“Still?” Trott laughed, referencing their school days, “I still don’t get it…”  
“It’s cause he’s never up before 12,” Katie stuck her tongue out at Smith and Smith kicked her lightly with a grin.  
“Two coffees coming right up then,” Trott grinned at their shared joke and was gone, slipping behind the counter effortlessly.

Katie’s face sagged and she turned to Smith, slight irritation in her eyes.  
“I hate not knowing…” She sighed, “You were his best friend in secondary school and you honestly don’t remember his soul mates name?” She narrowed her eyes, half in desperation and half in suspicion.  
“I swear, Katie, we were teenage boys, you know? We didn’t talk about soul mates and shit…” Smith subconsciously carded a hand through his hair, recalling his memories for anything he could remember about Trott’s soul mate. He came up blank again, only remembering the night he drunkenly confessed the name of his own soul mate and thanked every God that Trott hadn’t remembered that night.  
“I know…I know. It’s just frustrating…sometimes I wish I didn’t care about it, like you…” Katie sighed again.  
Smith startled as a body slid into the seat beside him, bringing the cold outside air with it. Turning, he met ice blue as the man smiled at him.  
“Alright?” Ross greeted them with a cheerful grin that Smith couldn’t bring himself to reciprocate, scowling instead. “What don’t you care about?”  
“Soul mates…” Katie tried to bring their new friend up to speed without divulging too much of Smith’s personal life.  
“Oh…uh…how could you not care?” Ross directed the question more at Katie and she giggled back in delight, a small ‘thank you!’ huffed at Smith triumphantly.  
“So…are you two, ya know…soul mates?” Ross only realised after the question was out of his mouth that they hadn’t quite reached the point for it not to be considered rude, trying instantly to take it back.  
“Oh, uh, fuck. I didn’t mean- I mean, I know it’s personal-uh…Sorry.”  
“It’s alright, we’re not together. Or soul mates…” The response to a question often asked came naturally, “Try and find out Smith’s soul mate all you want though…he won’t even tell his own best friend,” Katie pretended to sulk from across the table as Ross threw a curious look towards Smith.  
Smith was about to make a rude retort when Trott brought four coffees over, an extra for Ross as he had spotted him come in. He sensed the tension in the air before sliding into the booth, not wanting to sit too close to Katie out of awkwardness.  
Smith sank back into his seat as Trott made light conversation with the others. Who the fuck did this Ross twat think he was?  
Sauntering in and demanding to know who Smith’s soul mate was.  
What a prick.


	2. Big Girls Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie should really let Trott know they're probably soul mates and Ross confronts Smith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man the amount of positive feedback this has got so far is insane, thank you all so much!! I've already got about 6 of the 10 chapters done so I'll keep updating pretty regularly!!

Smith was starting to think Trott and Ross were inseparable, it seeming to be impossible to see Trott without Ross.  
A dislike for Ross had begun to build inside Smith from the second he had introduced himself and seeing him every weekend wasn’t doing much to aid that. Every time Smith had text Trott to make plans the small man had gotten back to let Smith know when Ross and him were both free.  
As much as Smith hated it though, it did give him more of a reason to invite Katie, not sure he wanted to be a third wheel with them alone.  
They had hit it off instantly and it now seemed like Trott would come to see Katie more than Smith. That however, unfortunately meant that Smith was left with only Ross to talk to.

As much as it had killed him to admit, Ross was charming. Smith could see Trott’s reasons for liking Ross, even though those thoughts only annoyed him more. His sense of humour was almost identical to Smith’s and Smith couldn’t help but laugh every time he made a joke. He would always quickly cover up the laugh with a cough, trying to ignore the smug look on Ross’ face at having made him laugh.  
Ross was also very attractive, Smith noted, hating himself instantly for having the thought. He pushed all thoughts of Ross away, heading to the kitchen to make a cup of tea instead. He had just filled the kettle when he heard the front door close softly as Katie entered. She kicked her shoes off and hung her coat on a peg beside the door before entering the kitchen with a deep sigh.  
She rested her elbows on the counter beside Smith, chin on her hands.  
“Anywhere nice?” Smith couldn’t contain his curiosity as he got an extra cup out for her.  
“The café…I stopped by to get some coffee…” Katie hid a shy smile and red cheeks behind her hair.  
“You walked the whole way to the uni campus to get- oh. In the café, huh?” Smith nudged her with an elbow as he added steaming water to the two cups.  
“Shut up!” She nudged him back with a nervous giggle.  
“Any particular reason you went to the café instead of the coffee shop?” Smith laughed as she turned even redder.  
“Smiiiiiith,” She whined only slightly joking, before growing serious again, “He asked me if Cat was short for anything…”  
“Shit! What’d you say?” Smith set the kettle down and studied her face.  
“I panicked! I said no,” She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed at her own stupidity.  
“Katie!”  
“Yeah, Smith, I know!”  
He pulled her into a one armed hug.  
“I may not get it exactly but I know this is big for you…” Smith tried to express his sympathy, coming up short.  
“I know. You think I haven’t noticed you trying to set us up? Talking to Ross even though you don’t seem to like him at all…” She poked slightly at the issue, knowing if she straight up asked she would be shot down.  
“I mean…he’s just a bit of a twat, you know?” Smith tried to change the subject, updating Katie on the upcoming plans he had made with Trott. 

It had been a few days since Smith had last seen Trott and the prick, Katie’s moping around the apartment had hit a new level of desperation as Smith tried to convince her to just call him but she was stubborn.  
“Can’t you just make plans with him? So I can come?” Her soft Scottish accent sounded harder than usual as she pleaded with Smith.  
“Oh for God’s sake…fine.” Smith heaved a sigh, “Why can’t you just tell him?”  
“Same reason you won’t tell anybody...” Katie had started the retort as a joke but the note of honesty rang harder than originally meant. “I…uh…didn’t mean that.” She seemed shocked at how hard her words had hit.  
“Yeah, you did…” Smith sighed in defeat, not angry at the comment as he couldn’t deny the truth behind it.  
Before she could say anything else Smith had his phone pressed against his ear as it rang. Trott answered after a couple rings and they made plans quickly as it appeared everyone was free.  
“You have half an hour to get ready…” Smith winked at her as a chorus of thank you’s echoed as she bounded down the hall to her bedroom.

Half an hour later they were walking to the university bar, the comfort of the Friday evening settled around the campus.  
“And don’t let me get too drunk, okay?” Smith nodded to each request that came from his short friend as she listed all the ways the night could end badly and ways to prevent them. She had worn a long sleeved black dress over tights that had little hearts on them, making Smith feel underdressed in his simple grey jeans and black hoodie beside her.

The night had flown in as Smith had tried to keep up with Katie’s ridiculous requests as well as trying to spot the name on Ross’ wrist as he had thankfully worn a short sleeve t-shirt. Unfortunately Smith had failed at both tasks as Katie had already had a few too many shots ‘to settle her nerves’ and was starting to slur her speech and Ross had kept his hands in his pockets all night, wrist –and name- pressed into his side and hidden from view. He had been keeping an eye out for the name all while avoiding having to speak to the man as best as he could. The dislike that had begun to fester had been slowly building inside Smith to the point where he could no longer bear to even look at Ross without getting angry.

Smith had just stepped through the smoking door when he heard it open again and shut softly behind him, his eyes once again meeting the pale blue that seemed to follow him everywhere these days.  
“Alright, mate?” Ross smiled politely and Smith basically grunted in response, looking away instantly in annoyance.  
“Okay, what is it?”  
“What?” Smith was taken aback at the sudden outburst, unsure if it was even meant for him.  
“What did I do that pissed you off so much? Cause there’s clearly some reason you don’t like me…” Ross genuine concern only made Smith angrier. He felt his face flush red as he turned to fully face the other man.  
“You’re…a prick.” Smith couldn’t come up with a better explanation; the ambush had caught him off guard. He knew he hadn’t been subtle about not exactly liking Ross and his brain ran at a million miles a second as he tried to come up with a better excuse for his dislike.  
“Excuse me?” Ross physically stepped back, clearly surprised by the comment. “I’m a prick? That’s it?” Ross threw his arms out for emphasis and Smith spotted the four letter name on his wrist that made his heart speed up. He furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief as the shock settled in his stomach. Ross thankfully hadn’t followed his gaze and still stared at him, expectantly.  
Just as Smith was about to expand on his half assed reason, the smoke door opened and a tipsy Katie tumbled out.  
“We gotta go…” Katie looked up to Smith with unshed tears in her eyes and Smith jumped into action, putting an arm around her waist to steady her.  
“Okay, I got you. Let’s go…” Smith didn’t even cast a glance back to Ross as he pulled his roommate back through the smoking door and through the packed pub to the door. At the bar he noticed Trott, an attractive blonde girl draped over him and Smith realised where Katie’s upset had come from.

She sobered up on the walk home, a combination of the chilly night air and the coffee Smith had stopped to buy her. She was silent, Smith’s arm draped over her shoulder although she didn’t need the physical support anymore. They reached the shared apartment quickly, Katie barely shedding her shoes and coat before crawling onto the sofa.  
Smith crouched beside the sofa, his face level with Katie’s.  
“Katie…” Smith wasn’t quite sure how to reassure her.  
“It’s alright…I know you probably think I’m being stupid,” Her face broke down, her eyes once again filling with tears.  
“Katie. C’mon, I don’t think you’re being stupid…I get it. I know I may not seem to…but I do. I get why it’s so important to you…Look, Trott likes you. He asked if Cat was short for anything so he’s clearly interested…right?” He got a small nod and a muffled ‘Yeah, I guess’ from Katie who had now buried her face in the cushions of the sofa. “So…you can’t blame him for not knowing…right?” Smith poked a finger at Katie’s side, knowing she was ticklish there. She squirmed and Smith heard a muffled giggle come from under the pillows followed by her head popping up a few seconds later.  
“D’you think I’m stupid for falling for him this fast?” Her smile was non-existent now.  
“Well…you know how I feel about soul mates…but no. He’s who you’re supposed to spend forever with, right?” She smiled and nodded  
“I think so. But I don’t know for sure…What if it’s just a coincidence though?”  
“When is it ever a coincidence?” Smith’s laugh was bitter but Katie joined in with a giggle, finally reassured. Smith got up from the floor to make a cup of tea when Katie stopped him,  
“Smith? Thank you…” Smith nodded his acknowledgement, losing himself in his thoughts. This is where caring about the name of your wrist landed you; Smith really didn’t need that kind of drama. Realising he had been stroking his wrist through his sleeve absentmindedly; he sighed and pushed the thought of soul mates out of his already tired brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Do you guys think I'm focusing on Katie and Trott too much in this? I think it's quite important for some upcoming bits but if you guys think it's too much let me know :-)


	3. We've Got Our Obsessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little worried this chapters quite boring but it's all build up I guess, the next chapter has some action so I hope it's not too bad haha

Even with Smith’s reassurance Katie decided she would spend the next week moping around the flat, only leaving to go to her classes and lectures. She avoided the café like the plague, making Smith go alone whenever he wanted to see Trott.  
Fortunately Ross seemed to be avoiding Smith, also avoiding the café. Trott had asked about Katie a few times and Smith had thankfully came up with an excuse about her being sick and not wanting to give it to anyone, buying her a little time.  
On his second day heading to the café for lunch without Katie he ran into the blonde from the bar. She hadn’t noticed or recognised him but he had stopped as he watched her walk away from the café, a slight smirk on her lips. Inside Trott unknowingly shared her expression, the corners of his mouth also turned up in a slight smile.

“Was that…?” Smith waved causally at the door, leaning on the counter with his other hand and Trott nodded.  
“Yeah, from the bar. Her name’s Maria! Do you know her? She’s doing a really similar course to you…I think,”  
“Nah mate, never met her. Sorry…” Trott fixed Smith a coffee and the usual donut he had with it  
“She’s great; I met her just before I moved.”  
“Wait really? So…are you two like…together?” Smith began to pry and Trott scoffed as he set the coffee and donut down, already starting on the next order as he talked to Smith.  
“Uh…not really? Not dating or anything…she knows her soul mate. She’s just not ready to settle down…”  
“And…uh…what about you? Your soul mate?” Smith wasn’t sure how to make his prodding any more discreet, not really having any experience in talking about soul mates as it was a subject he avoided as much as possible.  
“Look at that…Smith, curious about soul mates!” Trott laughed from behind the counter, “I don’t think I’ve met her yet…”  
“Her…?” Smith hoped Trott wouldn’t see through his curiosity and take it as simply that, curiosity. Fortunately he did, surprisingly pleased that Smith had asked.  
“Yeah, haven’t met many men named Katie recently!” Smith couldn’t help but laugh with unforced happiness at his discovery. He couldn’t wait to get back and tell her.  
Just as Smith was shovelling the donut into him, still standing at the edge of the counter so he could talk to Trott as he worked, the door chimed open again. Smith subconsciously looked up, almost choking on his donut in surprise when he met Ross’ ice blue eyes.  
Ross stopped at the door, quickly glancing behind him as if he were considering leaving again, just as Trott spotted him.  
“Alright Ross, coffee?”  
Ross nodded, walking to the centre of the counter where the till was. He looked at Smith out of the corner of his eyes and Smith grew very interested in his own latte.  
“Make it to go mate,” Ross added uneasily, setting the exact change on the counter without a second thought.  
Trott set the plain white cardboard cup down after a couple minutes of silence.  
“You alright?” He scooped the change up and dropped it in the till without even counting it as Smith observed their clearly regular routine.  
“Yeah…listen,” Ross angled himself so more of his back was towards Smith, obviously wanting this part of their conversation to be unheard. “I’ve…uh… got a date tonight. So I’ll be home late, alright?” Smith strained to listen as Ross lowered his voice.  
“Oh? Yeah, no problems. Just don’t forget your key again. Nice one though mate,” Trott grinned at Ross, still blissfully unaware of the tension between him and Smith. “Anyone I know?”  
“No…I, uh. I met her on Tinder to be honest. Her name’s Alexandra so, you know. Can’t hurt…” Smith noticed Trott glancing at the name on Ross’ wrist as he froze in his spot, coffee halfway to his lips.  
Surely Trott must know…he had known Smith since secondary school, long before Smith began to use his second name to cover himself.  
“Nice…good luck!” Trott grinned again as Ross took his coffee and left, another quick glance over his shoulder at Smith before he left.  
Smith relaxed as it became apparent Trott hadn’t connected the pieces, Trott instantly bringing up a new game he had bought.

Smith rushed home from the café to find Katie in the same spot she had been in all week. She lay on the sofa in another pair of batman pyjamas from her infinite source, her head stuck in a textbook.  
“Katie!” Smith’s excitement had her sitting up instantly, “The name…on Trott’s wrist! It is yours!” Katie stood in disbelief, hand covering the huge grin that grew on her face.  
“You’re not taking the piss?” Smith shook his head as Katie pulled him into a hug, her head only reaching his chest, excitement suddenly very obvious.  
“Oh, Smith, I seriously owe you!” She almost jumped up and down with glee.  
“Wait…he thinks my names Cat…” she stopped suddenly, remembering her precious mistake.  
“It’s alright…we’ll figure out something?” Smith offered, hoping to ease her worries.

The next morning Katie came with Smith to the café, a new found confidence was apparent along with the spring in her step.  
“Smith! Can I have a word?” Trott called over the counter on their entrance, Smith nodded to Katie who went on to sit at the booth they had claimed as their own as he leant against the display case beside the till.  
“What did you do to annoy Ross?” Trott seemed more concerned than angry.  
“Sorry?”  
“I said to Ross about going out this weekend with you and Katie and he made the stupidest excuse, he had to write an essay. Who writes a flipping essay on a Saturday night? So I figured, you being yourself must have done something to annoy him…”  
“Well…okay. He ambushed me and asked why I didn’t like him and I may have called him a prick…” Smith smiled apologetically at Trott as the other man sighed and set the cloth in his hand down.  
“Smith! Why are you such an asshole?”  
“I’ve made my peace with it…”Smith grinned with fake innocence at Trott who rolled his eyes  
“Well I haven’t so you’d better apologise to him.” Trott’s voice held a tone of seriousness that Smith knew wasn’t to argue with.

Smith joined Katie at the booth, carrying their coffees over so Trott wouldn’t have to. Katie nodded her thanks as she raised her eyebrows in question.  
“He wants me to apologise to Ross for calling him a prick…” Smith sighed.  
“When did you call him a prick?”  
“At the bar last weekend…”  
“And why did you call him a prick?”  
“Cause he is a prick…coming in and demanding to know who our soul mates were and making himself a part of the group…” Smith couldn’t stop the anger leaking into his voice.  
“Oh my god,” Katie laughed at the saltiness of his tone, “I haven’t heard you this bitter about anyone apart from your soul mate…” She laughed, meaning the words as a joke but Smith froze as his stomach dropped, the arm extended to lift his coffee fell short and wavered in mid-air. Katie watched the colour drain out of Smith’s face.  
“Oh my god. He is…your soul mate, isn’t he?” Although her voice had dropped to a whisper the urgency was still clear.  
Smith looked around at the fairly empty café, ensuring no one had heard before taking a swig of his coffee which he instantly regretted, burning his mouth.  
“No…what? Don’t be silly…” He tried to laugh off his momentary panic but Katie had already convinced herself and was not willing to let this one go. Her hand reached up as she caught Smith’s arm, forcing him to look at her.  
“Smith I swear to God if you don’t tell me the truth right now…” Her threat trailed off, not sure what she could hold as leverage over him.  
Smith sighed as he glanced at the wrist where Katie’s fingers were now wrapped. Meeting her eyes, he nodded slowly as she turned his hand over and slowly slid the sleeve of his jacket back to reveal the name on his wrist. She gasped before quickly covering it and allowing Smith to take his hand back.

“So that’s why you hate him?” She laughed but her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. “And that’s why you reacted so weird! The first day we all met!” She began to add the pieces up in her head.  
“Katie…don’t make this a big deal, please?”  
“I don’t know how I didn’t realise before!”  
Smith groaned, already regretting his decision to let her know. She rubbed her hands together as she thought, her face lit up like a child on Christmas as Smith could almost see her brain going a million miles an hour.  
“No. Whatever you’re planning…just no.”  
“You’re serious about this? I thought that you were bitter about the whole soul mate thing because you hadn’t met yours…” She scoffed.  
“Nope…I’ve met him and I still think it’s bull,” Smith tried to brush the conversation off, he wanted nothing more than to be done talking about this. Fortunately she dropped it, for now, just in time as Trott slid into the booth beside her. 

She grinned at him, a faint blush beginning to spread over her cheeks when suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Staring at her exposed wrist Smith realised she had forgotten a jacket, her shirt sleeves only reaching her elbows. A thin silver bracelet wrapped around her wrist but Smith knew that wouldn’t cover it. She looked up, meeting Smith’s gaze with wide eyes filled with fear. She crossed her arms, inner wrist tucked against her stomach to hide the name.  
“Trotty, could I get some more milk for my coffee please?” Smith pitched in a sweetened voice as Trott stood up with a sigh, grumbling about it being his break.  
As soon as he was out of ear shot Katie looked at him in fear again.  
“Give me your hoodie. You have a shirt on, right?”  
“What? Katie I can’t…I haven’t got my watch on.”  
As if some force was working against Smith, the door chimed and Smith looked to see Ross entering, a dark haired girl on his arm. Trott, who had been roped into doing a couple orders, waved at them and pointed to the booth where Katie and Smith sat. At the booth their eyes met, panic mirrored in both.

“Maybe we should just go? Make an excuse…” Katie whispered fiercely, her tone fast with panic.  
“We can’t…we just got here. And I know you wanna see him…” Smith gestured to the counter where Trott now worked on making two coffees for Ross and his friend.  
As Ross began to cross the packed café, eyes down to avoid Smith’s gaze, Smith jumped into action, a last minute plan in his head. He stood, pulling his hoodie off at the same time and almost throwing it before sliding into the seat beside Katie as she pulled the hoodie on. The material of it drowning her small figure as she made sure both wrists were covered.  
“It should be okay if I sit here…but kick me if you spot it,” Smith hissed as he nodded at his own now exposed wrist just as Ross and the girl reached the table.  
“Thank you so much!”

Smith placed his hands on his knees, inner wrist pressed firmly against his leg as he felt the cool breeze on his bare arms. It had been years since Smith had been in public in anything less than a long sleeved shirt and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Ross’ eyes following him the whole time.

Ross introduced his friend as Alex, the girl he had met on Tinder and a small smirk played on Smith’s lips as he thought of Ross’ obliviousness.  
Beside him he felt the glare from Katie before he noticed it out of the corner of his eye, smirking even more as he made sure to extend his unmarked, right arm to shake the girls hand. With a warm, toothy smile he introduced himself as Smith and the girl smiled back, suddenly paying more attention to Smith than Ross.  
Ross’ glare joined Katie’s as Smith ignored them both, suddenly finding the girl extremely interesting. Before long Trott joined them, pulling another seat over on his long overdue break. He watched as Ross introduced the girl to Trott and he mumbled a quick ‘nice to meet you’, his attention caught by the fact Katie wore Smith’s hoodie. Katie said nothing, burying deeper in the fabric as she refused to meet his gaze.

Smith made his excuses to leave not long after, suddenly realising the girl Ross had brought was actually quite boring. Even though her interest in Smith had been annoying Ross, Smith could no longer pretend to care about anything she had to say. Before Smith had left, they had made plans to go to the University pub the next night as the monthly pub quiz was coming up and Trott couldn’t remember the last time he’d went to a pub quiz. Trott had invited Ross’ new friend who had made sure Smith would be there before she confirmed that she could come; only causing Ross’ dirty looks to become angrier. That had been when he had made his excuses to leave. Smith leant over and kissed the top of Katie’s head, darting off and out of the café without another word.

Smith headed back to the apartment, enjoying the solitude as he mentally prepared for the telling off he would get from Katie later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm aware the cafe's starting to get boring as a setting so the next chapter mixes it up a bit. Thank you so much for reading, I promise the next chapters more interesting!! I'll probably put it up later to compensate for this chapter haha


	4. Stay The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some action!! Hope you guys enjoy :-)

Katie didn’t hold back, she pulled Smith’s hoodie off as soon as she was through the door, throwing it at his head. Smith chuckled as he caught the hoodie effortlessly, grinning at Katie innocently.

“What the hell was that?” she hadn’t started to shout but she did sound furious, “Are you trying to piss as many people as possible off at once? Are you in some sort of self-destruct mode?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Smith held his arrogant grin.  
“Oh? You don’t? Let me see, first…you were flirting with Ross’ girlfriend?”  
“Oh c’mon, it’s not like they’re soul mates…her wrist doesn’t even say Ross.”  
“That doesn’t make it okay Smith! He obviously liked her enough to bring her to meet Trott…”  
“Won’t last though…”  
“Not after you flirted with her! And he’s obviously looking for his soul mate if he’s taking people named Alex out on dates. Which is another topic all together…But now Trott thinks you and I are dating ‘cause I was wearing your hoodie and you kissed me…also lets talk about that. Was that to piss me or Trott off?”  
“Okay, it was a forehead kiss. Not like an actual kiss! That was to help you actually…”  
Katie furrowed her eyebrows as she rubbed her temples, remembering why she found Smith intolerable at times.  
“Cause Trotty’s mad…right? See where I’m going with this? He might not know yet…but he clearly likes you…” Smith nudged his best friend with an elbow as her eyes widened, realising Smith’s point. Katie quickly wiped the look off her face, replacing it with anger again.  
“You can thank me later!” Smith narrowly dodged the playful slap that was to follow as he ducked out of the room.

The next night he found himself in a bad mood as they walked to the bar. Smith enjoyed spending time with Trott, he had missed his school best friend and having him in his life again was nice, it had come with its many advantages but unfortunately it had come with a new disadvantage, in the form of a certain dark haired prick called Ross.

Smith ran a hand through his tangled auburn curls, sighing as Katie talked enough for the both of them, his previous actions forgiven with the hope tonight would be the night she could finally work up the nerves to tell Trott.   
That did however mean she was especially chatty with nerves.   
Smith really couldn’t bring himself to look forward to a night he knew would solely consist of Ross’ company and scanning the bar on their entry, he was pleasantly surprised to see Ross’ attention already taken by a shorter man in a baseball cap who sat beside him.

Smith and Katie sat at the table Trott and Ross had already picked, taking the last two seats. Smith looked around at the faces that sat at the table, a few of them were familiar to him as he had seen them around the campus but he only actually knew one of them, a small girl by the name of Kim who was in a few of his lectures.  
“I thought I’d go all out, get the whole gang together. The team could have up to 10,” Trott gestured to the people sat around the table, “Let me introduce you,”  
Trott began to introduce them to the team he had assembled around the table, “Turps,” a bearded man with a booming voice and generally loud presence grinned and saluted.  
“Lewis,” Trott nodded to the opposite end of the table where a dark haired man sat in deep conversation with a fair haired man with a thick, well-groomed moustache, “And Sjin.”  
“Kim, I think you guys know each other?” to which Smith nodded and waved across the table at her to which she grinned and smiled back.  
“And Duncan, her soul mate.” Trott pointed to the blonde haired man beside Kim who nodded his greeting.  
Finally Trott gestured to the man that held Ross’ attention, “And that’s Sips, Sjin’s soul mate, he’s hilarious.”

The pub quiz passed fairly quickly, Smith only really piping up to scoff at a wrong answer Ross gave, earning him a kick under the table from Katie. He had only known one answer, the answer to a question about The Muppets which earned him the nick name 'Kermit' from Sips. He therefore focused his energy on drinking instead, getting to know the table of people around him was easy as he soon realised they all shared his sense of humour.   
Trott had been right about Sips being hilarious as he occasionally only spoke up to offer the most ridiculous answer he could think of, leaving Smith in tears from laughing almost every time he did speak.  
Smith, as it turned out, wasn’t much help for the quiz and stuck to getting drinks for the table every time someone ran out. It hadn’t been a great plan as he had come up with the great idea of doing a shot every time he went up to the bar, which turned out to be quite a few times more than expected. 

By the halfway mark of the quiz, Smith was drunk.   
Fortunately, due to the amount of drinks he had been bringing back to the table, everyone was tipsy at the least.   
Also due to the amount of times Smith had been up to the bar and to the bathroom and back to the table, everyone had somehow switched seats like an unspoken game of musical chairs and Smith found himself on the end, next to Ross. He didn’t quite know whether it was due to the alcohol or the fact he was in no mood to be salty tonight but Smith found himself talking to a surprised Ross as if they were best friends.

Smith wasn’t quite sure when he had had the idea but it seemed like the best one he’d ever had. When the quiz had ended and they hadn’t even placed in the rankings, Smith had invited everyone back to the flat.   
It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to get this drunk or have this much fun and he wasn’t ready for it to be over just yet.   
So everyone had piled out of the bar and back to the flat, Katie only protesting slightly but quickly changing her mind when Trott had reassured her they would all be on their best behaviour.  
With a quick stop at an off licence on the way, they arrived at Smith and Katie’s fully stocked up on at least a dozen different types of drinks, the night still being quite young after all.

The spontaneous party had been like any other Smith had been to in his entire university experience. A lot of mixing of weird drinks that tasted terrible and people slowly picking somewhere to pass out as the night went on and everyone reached their limit.  
Almost everyone had passed out when Smith realised it had been a while since he had seen Katie and Trott and he found himself missing his friend, assuming they had also just passed out.   
Smith was an emotional drunk as he had discovered in his school days, he often found himself confessing things he would never say sober. And it was times like that he turned to Katie, who usually welcomed his truth with open arms, never to be mentioned again. With no one to spill his drunken guts to, Smith found himself aimlessly wondering the slowly quieting apartment. At this point of the night the only people still awake were involved in their own private conversations, probably spilling their own drunken guts.

Smith settled in the bath tub, not really sure why it had seemed so appealing as it definitely wasn’t as comfortable as he had previously imagined. He cradled a bottle of vodka in the crook of his right arm as if it were a baby, giggling at his own thoughts when the door slowly creaked open.

“Alright mate? I just need to piss,” A very drunk Ross slurred, turning his back to smith as he undid his zipper.  
“I can leave…” Smith tried to stand but by the time he had pushed himself up to stand in the bath, the other man had finished.

Everything spun as Smith grabbed the edges of the bath to support himself, a strong pair of hands on his shoulders suddenly steadying him. Smith’s met the ice of Ross’ pale eyes, suddenly close enough to feel the breath of the other man on his face.   
Smith’s lips tingled as Ross fixed his gaze on them, leaning in. Smith closed his eyes and braced himself for a kiss that was surely going to happen, a kiss that was surely going to make him hate himself as he realised Ross had stopped.

“Why do you hate me?” The other man’s voice sounded soft, broken almost. As if Smith had been the first person to ever dislike him. A surge of annoyance hit as Smith thought he probably _had_ been the first person to dislike Ross. 

Another wave of annoyance hit, annoyance at himself this time as Smith realised he had been disappointed the kiss hadn’t come. Even though it was a kiss that had been prompted by alcohol alone, it had been a while since Smith had allowed anyone close enough to even consider kissing him and he hated to admit it was a feeling he missed.  
He let his mind wander to the feeling, a feeling he had long forgotten.   
A feeling of someone wanting to kiss him, the feeling of wanting to kiss someone else.   
He missed the intimacy he had worked so hard to keep out of his life, something that as hard as he tried, could not be replaced. And he had tried. He had tried to replace the intimacy with many things.   
He had tried to replace it with guitar but every song he liked reminded him that he had no one to play them to.   
He had tried to replace it with his studies but the movies they did on his media and music course were often those with romance plots, usually about finding the name on your wrist.   
So he had begun to focus all his energy into hating the name on his own wrist, the easiest way to avoid love was to replace it with hate, as he found out.   
Not that the hate for his soul mate had been hard to find, it had always been there after all, he had simply had to tap into it.   
But all the years of hating someone he had never met had begun to catch up on him, draining all his energy. Slowly doing less and less to dull the ache in his chest.

A wave of pain in his chest, a sudden, sharp focus of the usual ache, found him stepping- falling out of the bath, still being held steady by the arms on his shoulders. He used the other man’s grip to push him against the wall by putting his weight into leaning forward, Ross being forced to step back. Smith kept going until Ross’ back hit the solid wall; unable to move Ross anymore Smith moved his own body. He pressed it up against Ross’, the sudden heat they shared making him flush red.  
He didn’t have to do much work apart from that as Ross closed the remaining gap between them, their lips meeting with a passion Smith had thought only to exist in books.  
Smith had been kissed before, he had been pushed up against a wall and kissed, hard. And he had been kissed softly, barely a brush of lips. And kissed on the forehead, kissed on the cheek. He had been kissed in every sense of the word and yet…this was different.   
Smith’s brain wasn’t going its usual speed, everything had stopped.   
The only thing that Smith was thinking about was the soft lips that met his own.

Smith’s skin both tingled and burned under Ross’ touch as Ross cupped his jaw on either side, pulling his face closer as he did. The hunger of the kiss grew as Ross parted Smith’s lips with his tongue, gripping his shoulder as if there were no physical way to have him close enough. And there wasn’t.  
Smith’s hands ghosted under Ross’ shirt, tracing the lines of his stomach as he thought about his sudden want, his sudden need to touch every part of Ross’ body.  
Smith almost gasped when Ross’ lips broke the kiss, trailing down his scruff of stubble to his neck where Ross bit down softly, nipping all the way along Smith’s jaw line.  
Smith broke the kiss by placing his hands on Ross’ chest and pushing slightly, Ross stepped back immediately, fear flashing in his hazy, drunken eyes as he worried he had done something wrong.  
“Bedroom.” Smith growled, his hands already itching to be back on Ross’ warm skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So chapter 5 will probably be plotless smut so it can be skipped!! So the plot will be resumed in chapter 6 :-)  
> Thank you for reading!!


	5. Take me, take me back to your bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plotless smut! (Except the last two little paragraphs maybe)

Smith had barely closed the door behind them before Ross was back, his lips nipping at Smith’s neck again. Ross pulled his shirt off without hesitation, pulling Smith close again by the hips once the shirt was shed.  
Smith kissed the length of Ross’ exposed collar bones, admiring his shirtless form discreetly. 

Smith broke the kiss to rid himself of his own shirt, Ross’ hands helping when he got stuck. Their lips clashed again, far bypassing graceful and becoming simply needing.  
He guided Ross backwards until the back of his legs hit the bed and he tumbled backwards onto it, Smith instantly on top of him.  
Smith felt his own fingernails dig into the soft flesh of Ross’ upper arms that met his hands and could do nothing but dig them in deeper, drawing a small whimper from the other man. He brought his lips to Ross’ neck and bit down, hard, this time drawing a louder moan from the man.  
He felt a wave of heat at the whimper and he bit down again, drawing another moan out.

Underneath him Ross unbuttoned Smith’s jeans and tugged, Smith lifting his hips slightly off the other man to allow him to slide the jeans down and reveal his tented boxers.  
He rolled over to pull the jeans from his knees to the floor and was suddenly met by Ross’ weight on top of him, his own dick hard against Smith’s thighs.  
The only thing now separating the men were the layers of boxers and Smith’s skin longed for the warmth of Ross’. 

Smith ran his hands from Ross’ knees all the way up his thighs and under the fabric of the other man’s boxers, tracing the hem of the boxers subconsciously.  
Their lips clashed once more, a new hunger filling Smith’s entire body with lust and he lifted his hips, Ross’ added weight now making it awkward as he slid his own boxers down, revealing his erect cock.  
Ross wasted no time, briskly leaving a trail of kisses down Smith’s stomach and immediately taking him into his mouth.  
A shudder of pleasure rushed through Smith as the contact registered and Smith found himself matting his hands in Ross’ hair with a groan.  
Ross built up a rhythm quickly as Smith bucked his hips in time, using his hands to guide Ross’ head.

Unable to stop the small whimpers coming from his own throat, Smith’ eye’s fluttered closed as he felt the blinding white of an orgasm approach.  
“Ross, I’m gonna-” Smith was cut off by the sudden lack of contact, Ross opting to meet Smith’s lips with his own, silencing him.  
Ross’ hand took over for his mouth as Smith moaned into his mouth, making Ross’ hand speed up.

Smith broke the kiss and pressed his face into Ross’ neck as he came, his body shuddering with a pleasure he had long forgotten. Realising Ross had wrapped both arms around him, Smith pulled back out of the embrace.  
Meeting Ross’ eyes as his own fluttered open, he was taken aback by the grin that was etched into Ross' face.  
A grin of not only achievement but Smith would have sworn he saw a slight hint of adoration underneath.  
Choosing to focus only on the feeling that now coursed through his body, he tugged Ross’ boxers down with slight irritation, a gasp of both surprise and pleasure escaping from the other man as he immediately placed a kiss on the tip of the other man’s erect dick.  
Smith wasted no time building up a fast pace as he pushed the emotion held in the previous grin out of his mind and concentrated only on making the other man come.

Within minutes he had Ross on the brink due to his fast pace and perfected pressure, continuing to move his head back and forth as Ross tugged his hair slightly and tried to stutter out a sentence to let him know he was close. Smith ignored it, moving his head faster.  
Smith grimaced as the taste of salt exploded into his mouth and he quickly swallowed, pulling back and flopping onto the bed beside Ross. 

He turned so his back was to the other man and let his eyes close, the ache in his chest no longer a dull throb but one that intensified with every beat of his heart. He furrowed his eyebrows in pain as he silently questioned the persistent ache and why it hadn't ebbed, Smith had simply wanted a quick fix and as he wondered if his body was aching for more intimacy, a new wave of annoyance hit him.

He was pulled from his thoughts as behind him Ross turned and snuggled into his back, wrapping an arm around his waist to trace patterns over his bare stomach, a simple act that had Smith forgetting about the pain in his chest and the thoughts in his head, letting an unfamiliar warmth spread over him as he drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as always I'm super nervous posting this but hey, oh well.  
> I'm sorry this took so long I was away all weekend!!  
> But I have the next couple of chapters almost ready to post so they should be up super soon!! 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and I'm sorry for the horrendous smut lmao


	6. Close your eyes and make believe, this is where you wanna be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning afters and after mornings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> geez my chapter titles just keep getting longer and longer

The bedroom door directly opposite Smith’s door swung open almost exactly as his own did, both roommates stopping on seeing one another.  
They took in the state of the other, looking each other up and down with a grimace. Smith wore a pair of boxers he wasn’t entirely sure were his own and nothing else. Opposite in the door frame of her own room, Katie wore underwear and a hoodie that was definitely not her own.  
Their eyes met, both wide eyed in realisation and alarm. Katie spoke first,  
“I slept with Trott,” Her voice was hoarse and sounded painful, not however hiding the panic.   
“I slept with Ross,” Smith groaned, his own voice also hoarse and painful.

Half an hour later Katie and Smith, now showered and dressed in their own pyjamas, sat at the small kitchen table. Both mirroring the other as they held a cup of tea, the same look of concern and pain on their faces.  
“What do we do?” Katie whispered, looking through the open door into the living room still littered with sleeping students to make sure no one was awake and listening.  
Smith answered by rubbing his temples, not entirely sure if the headache was caused by the amount he had to drink the night before or the fact that the only man he actively hated was currently asleep in his bed.  
“Smith, how do we get them out without having to speak to them?” Katie groaned, her head in her hands.  
“I don’t think we can…?” Smith thought through every possible scenario in his head, coming up with nothing. “I think we’re stuck in this one…”  
“Yeah, you can say that again…”

Down the hall, a bedroom door opened and both roommates froze, unable to identify which of their bedrooms it had been. They both braced themselves, sharing a look that held equal amounts of worry and sympathy for the other. The footsteps were impossible to hear on the soft, carpeted floor and the seconds ticked by as Smith and Katie both held their breath, the suspense killing them. 

A moment that had felt like an eternity later, Trott poked his head around the door, slightly faltering upon seeing Smith and Katie both, his face began to turn red. He smiled sheepishly at Katie, avoiding Smith’s gaze for as long as possible. When he finally met Smith’s eyes, Smith gave him a small nod and a smile that he hoped had reassured the other man.  
“I’ll…uh…give you the room,” Smith quickly made a cup of coffee and left the room, off to face his own fears.

The smell of stale alcohol and sex hit Smith as soon as he opened the door, wincing as it did. He set the coffee on the bedside table beside the sleeping man before quickly opening the window, throwing the curtains open wide in the hope it would wake Ross, so he wouldn’t have to.   
His plan worked as he heard the hungover man groan as the bed shifted behind him.  
“Stinks in here…” His tone was quiet, reserved, as he turned to meet the groggy, blue eyes in the bed behind him.

The blinding light had bathed the entire room, drawing Ross from his comatose state.   
Peeking out from under the arm he had been draped over his face, he took in his surroundings. Smith’s cluttered bedroom was exactly as he had imagined. Not that he _had_ imagined, he quickly corrected his thoughts.  
Dirty clothes lined the floor, the tidiest thing in the room being the empty laundry hamper in the corner where the clothes should have been. In the other corner sat an acoustic guitar and Ross couldn’t help but to imagine Smith playing it, groaning at how the thought made his heart beat a little faster.   
He shifted in the bed to find the source of light and found Smith opening the window.  
Realising his hands were still slightly sticky from the night before, he groaned again. Cleaning up at the time hadn’t seemed like the best idea when the beautiful man who’s bed Ross shared had rolled over and Ross had had the opportunity to snuggle the other man instead.

“Stinks in here…” Ross couldn’t smell much past his own hungover morning breath. He quickly took in his own naked form; realising Smith was gazing at his exposed chest he pulled the covers up around him.  
“Uh…sorry,” Smith smiled sheepishly, his tone still holding undertones of bitterness. “I made you some coffee and uh…you know where the shower is…?” Ross nodded, unable to even attempt to croak out a response.   
“Then…I’ll leave you…to clean up?” Ross nodded again as Smith crossed the room, glancing back for just a second before he left.   
A second where his eyes had lingered on Ross’ lips too long, a flash of hate still in his eyes.

Unable to stay in his own room and unable to go into the kitchen, Smith sank to the floor of the hall beside the front door, his back pressed against the wall, legs crossed. He pulled his phone out and began to browse through various social media sites, nothing really holding his attention.

It wasn’t long before the kitchen door flew open and Trott nearly tripped over Smith.   
Trott pulled his jacket on as he flung the front door open with force, Katie appearing in the kitchen doorway with tears in her eyes. Smith shrank back into the wall, tucking his knees up to his chest and feeling as if he was intruding on a very personal moment.  
“Chris…please,” Her pleads were only answered with the slam of the front door. Smith stood up, still staring at the door where Trott had been a second earlier.  
“Well…he knows,” Katie broke down, darting off to her bedroom before Smith could say anything, the slam of her bedroom door cutting him off as he was about to call her name.

The door opposite opened and a now awake, fully dressed Ross appeared, shoes in hand. He met Smith in the hall, refusing to meet his gaze for a minute. From the living room Smith could hear the sounds of people stirring, the commotion having woken everyone up.  
“Is everything alright?” Ross smiled sympathetically, taking in the exasperated look on Smith’s face.  
“Yeah…uh…nothing to worry about,” Smith’s words came out harsher than he had meant them.  
“Uh…alright…I’ll just…go?” He posed the statement as a question.  
Smith rubbed his temples; the headache he had woke up with had amplified as the day wore on. And it was only lunch time.  
“Uh…yeah.” Smith considered bringing what he could remember of the night before up but couldn’t find the energy for any more drama.  
“Alright…uh, see you around?” Ross offered awkwardly, looking like a child on his first day of school.  
Smith nodded and held the door open; mentally kicking himself after Ross had left.   
It had been a while since Smith had had a one night stand but he never remembered the morning after to be this awkward. 

Then again…he had never hated the person he had slept with before either, so there was always that.  
Realising he was still standing with the door wide open, Ross long gone, he closed it and headed inside to deal with the remainder of the guests from the night before.

Katie didn’t reappear from her own bedroom again until the next day, Smith had tried to coax her out with Chinese takeout and her favourite Disney movie but nothing had worked.  
He decided to give her space, occasionally leaving her tea at the door, signifying with a single knock and leaving again. The cup would then be inside by the next time he walked past.  
It was a routine they had worked up the first time one of them had been upset, unspoken appreciation between them.   
Smith ordered himself Chinese anyway, leaving Katie her favourite meal at her door with a single knock once again.

The next day Smith had an early morning class. He assumed Katie was still asleep by the time he had left in a rush, having slept in.  
When he got back, she sat in the living room watching re-runs of old game shows. Her hair was still wet from a shower and a small suit case sat at her feet.

“I’m not that bad of a roommate, am I?” Smith had tried to joke and Katie had smiled, more in pain than anything.  
“I’m gonna go visit my parents for a couple days. My Wednesday classes were cancelled this week anyway so…I think a break could be nice,”   
“I don’t mean to be harsh…but isn’t that a bit dramatic?” Smith sighed; concern plastered on his face as he leant against the door frame and ran a hand through his hair.  
“You didn’t see how upset he was…” Her eyes glazed over as she relieved the recent memory with pain.   
Smith grimaced himself as he imagined that pain on Ross’ face if he found out and suddenly he understood. Katie felt as though she had been rejected, which probably hurt more than the sadness and anger she had witnessed on Trott’s face.  
“Katie…he’s just upset that you didn’t tell him. He just needs time…you’re his soul mate.” Smith tried his best to reassure his best friend as her eyes glistened with unshed tears.  
“What if he doesn’t want to be now? After this?” She looked at Smith with wide eyes that made Smith’s own chest hurt.  
“Katie…c’mon…” Smith was at a loss for words, the only relationship advice he had experience with stemmed from the time he had secretly binge watched 90210, finding it surprisingly entertaining, and that probably wouldn’t help much in this situation. As if on cue, Katie’s phone alarm sounded and she stood, pulling the small suit case with her.  
“I’ll only be a couple days…I would invite you but I know you have a class Friday. You could always come up after…if you wanted?”  
“Thanks but I’ll be okay here. A bachelor’s weekend…” Smith faked a smile to encourage his friend. She pulled him into a loose hug and left, not wanting to drag out the simple goodbye. After all, she would only be gone a few days.  
Smith looked around the apartment, realising just how empty it already was without Katie. He sighed, pulling his laptop and books from his backpack, he settled into the sofa. Not bothering to change the old game show reruns that were on, he concentrated on getting some work done.

Smith had had the apartment to himself all week and the quiet was beginning to drive him crazy, the entire reason he had put an ad for a roommate up in the first place.  
He considered going to the café just to get out for a while but he knew the possibility of running into Ross was too high and he wasn’t quite ready to face that fear just yet.

It was Friday before he heard from anyone, after a quick knock at the door, he revealed it to find a very nervous Trott, basically dancing from foot to foot.  
“D’you need a piss or something…?” Smith made an attempt at a joke to which Trott widened his eyes and swallowed,  
“I’m kidding, mate. C’mon in…Katie’s not here,” Smith held the door open wider for him and he stepped inside, suddenly calmed at the absence of Smith’s roommate.

Smith made them a cup of tea and they settled in the living room, a peaceful silence settling over them before Trott broke it.  
“Did you know?” Trott’s voice was calm but the hand he held his tea in shook so bad the tea threatened to spill over the edge.  
“Yeah…I’m sorry.”  
Trott nodded once, taking a small sip of his tea.

“I changed my mind…I don’t want to talk about it.”  
It was now Smith’s turn to nod, racking his brain for something else to talk about.

“How’s Ross?” The words were out of him before he could even think about them and he grimaced, cursing his own brain for even having the thought.  
“Alright…I think. Haven’t seen him in a while actually, he’s been pretty busy.” Trott waved his free hand, thinking nothing of the question and still oblivious of the previous week’s events. “He, uh, asked about you though…”  
“Oh…yeah?” Smith kept his voice steady and calm, ignoring the increased pace of his heart.

“And I had a thought…” Smith nodded his head to encourage the other man, “Ross’ soul mate…is called Alex…” Trott prompted the other man but Smith kept his best poker face on, nodding calmly as he pretended to think.  
“Strange…” Smith continued to keep his voice level as his stomach joined his heart in frantic movement.  
“And your name is Alex…” Trott pushed more.  
“Yeah, strange coincidence, huh?” Smith forced a laugh, praying Trott would drop the subject.  
“Smith. It’s not a coincidence though, is it?” Trott dropped his façade with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends sorry i took so long with this, (drama amiright) anyway, swiftly moving on, next chapters ready to go and we finally find out why Smith's so salty.....;-)  
> should be up soon :-)


	7. I try to forget love cause love's forgot me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salt is spilled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh im so sorry this took so long!!

“Honestly…I don’t know how I didn’t figure it out sooner. I pretty much convinced myself you never actually got another name. Although, looking back…I should have guessed.”  
“Listen mate, don’t beat yourself up. I didn’t want anyone to know…I’m still surprised you’re not mad,” Smith forced an awkward laugh to cover up his search of Trott’s face for any sign of annoyance at all.  
“I mean…I get it. I know what you went through and it’s understandable…”  
“I wish everyone saw it like that,” Smith laughed again, this time slightly bitter, thinking of his stubborn roommate.  
He knew she was only curious because she cared about him but still Smith wished she wouldn’t get so hurt every time he refused to tell her about his past.  
“Katie?” Trott asked, interrupting Smith’s train of thought. He nodded, almost missing the flash of longing in Trott’s eyes.  
“I’m sure she would understand if she knew…” Trott defended her absentmindedly, leading Smith’s thoughts down a whole new path.

“So…Trott was here while you were visiting your parents.” Smith sat on the floor of his room, looking up at the bed where Katie sat cross legged, a cup of tea cradled in her hands. She kept her face calm, only a slight hint of emotion flashing in her eyes but it was gone immediately.  
“He knows about Ross and I being soul mates,”  
This time Katie let the hurt and irritation linger in her eyes.  
“He figured it out on his own,” Smith interjected as she opened her mouth, not giving her time to make a remark on the matter, “But…it did get me thinking. I think it’s about time I tell you why I’ve been so salty all this time…I owe you that much.”

Smith was currently in the process of clearing the junk in his room out, going through boxes he hadn’t touched in months to make space for his ever growing stack of textbooks.  
He leant back and opened a drawer of clothes on the dresser behind him, digging through until his hands blindly found the cold smooth box. He pulled it out, analysing it before setting it on the edge of the bed in front of Katie. ‘Dani’ was written on the box in the thick black lines of a sharpie. Katie furrowed her eyebrows as she looked to Smith for an explanation, he took a deep breath.

“You know how everyone gets a name when they hit puberty? Usually around 16, right?” Katie nodded, encouraging him to speak. “Well…I got a name when I was 14. Danielle…”  
He nodded to the box and Katie opened it with delicate fingers, lifting the picture on top of the box. Smith didn’t have to see the picture to know it was a smiling selfie of the two from when they were 17.  
“I got the name early because I met her. She had just moved to my school and she was put in my biology class. The first thing she ever asked me was if I had read The Lord Of The Rings and I sort of…knew?” Smith's face flushed slightly and the corner of his mouth pulled up into a shy smile at the memories of a happier time.

“Then, that night, I noticed the name had just...appeared. She ran up to me the next day; my name had appeared on her wrist too. We were freaked, we were just kids.” Smith found the words easy, once he had started they had tumbled out but he began to struggle, knowing the hard part was coming. He took another deep breath.

“But we started dating a couple months later anyway; I had already fallen for her -hard. And everything was good. It was really good…we were together for almost three years before we had any problems. We lived almost two hours apart, school being right in the middle of us and with exams coming up; we just stopped seeing each other outside school. Things started getting really, really hard…I actually…I wished her name wasn’t on my wrist a few times.” Smith had to stop to level his shaky breaths, continuing after a short moment.

“So we took a break, focused on ourselves for a while…the usual. Then things were getting really good again. We were considering getting back together and we were in a really good place when one day she just didn’t show up to biology. I didn’t think much of it ‘cause I assumed she was sick, had taken the day off.” Smith furrowed his eyebrows as he recalled the memory, thinking back on his own stupidity.  
“My parents told me when I got home…she had had an accident. Her mother had crashed their car and she, uh, she died instantly. There was nothing anyone could have done…That's what they said...as if that'll make you feel better.” From the bed he heard a sniffle but continued anyway, not able to stop even if he wanted to.

“I was only seventeen, I had my whole life with Dani planned out and it was…gone. I didn’t know what to do.” Smith grew vague, not wanting to live that part of the story again in great detail.

“I sort of...shut off for a while, shut everyone out. I didn’t leave the house for weeks, almost failed my A-levels. Trott, oh man, Trott was there for it all, he was the only one who kept visiting months after I had tried to close myself off. He practically saved my life, not to be dramatic…but he slowly helped me out of the hole I had dug. Made it easy for me to come back to reality. And so I did. I started getting on with my life, I had to…  
I went back to school and I pretended the pain wasn’t there,” Smith ran a hair through his hair, ignoring how vivid the images appeared in his mind.

“And then eventually it got easier…clichéd but true. It didn’t hurt to simply…breathe anymore, didn’t hurt to exist, without her. And sometimes…I guess it still does…but I learnt how to deal with the pain and those days don’t bother me as much anymore.” Smith could hear the small drips as Katie’s tears hit his bed covers, almost echoing in the absence of Smith’s voice.

“And then the hardest day of all came, about three months after she died. Her name started to fade from my wrist.” Smith heard a small gasp from the bed where he met Katie’s eyes for the first time since he had begun to speak. Her eyes were red as the tears freely flowed now, a hand covering her mouth.  
“It didn’t just disappear, like it had appeared suddenly. Nah…it slowly faded. Took about a month before it was fully gone.” Smith examined his wrist now, sleeve still covering it as he recalled the memory of the previous name.

“And then Ross’ name appeared…?” Katie’s voice shook; almost unrecognisable as she broke the silence Smith hadn’t realised he had created.

“Yeah…I had about a month without a name. I started thinking maybe I’d never get another one…everyone assured me I would. As if that was what I wanted…” Smith laughed bitterly, “Then one night the name Ross appeared and I couldn’t help but hate it and whoever it belonged to, even if that makes me an ass.”  
Smith broke a small smile at the end, surprised he had held it together so well. Especially as he recalled it was the first time he had ever told anyone, even his parents had never known anything about the second name, other than it had appeared.

“No wonder you’ve hated the entire idea of soul mates since then. I can see why now…” Katie had joined Smith on the floor now, pulling him into a tight hug as she willed herself to stop crying, “God Smith, I had no idea…I’m so sorry…” Smith relaxed into her hug, knowing she needed it just as much as him.  
“It’s okay…like I said; I learnt how to deal with the pain. And it’s been almost six years…”  
Smith took a deep breath in, noticing the almost physical absence of weight in his chest.

It had been almost a full week since Smith had shared his past with his best friend and he was beginning to regret it more and more with every passing day.  
It had started off simple enough; she had folded his clean washing for him and left in a neat pile on his bed, something that she would have never done but Smith ignored it.  
He accredited it to her being bored as she was still avoiding Trott after all, neither of them realising how often they had been going to the cafe until they couldn't anymore.

Then she was doing all his washing. She had even picked the dirty boxers scattered across his bedroom floor and washed them, something even Smith himself rarely did.

But above all else, it was the tea that did it. The countless cups of tea were slowly but surely driving Smith insane.  
They were good roommates, they had lived together for a while now and one never made a cup of tea without at least asking the other if they wanted one…a system that worked.  
But ever since Smith had let Katie in on his secret, the tea had become incessant. She was making a cup an hour, more sometimes.

“Katie…” Smith struggled to hold the four mugs in his hands, almost dropping one as he set them all done on the counter beside her. “This is a bit much.” Smith gazed at the mugs that now lined the counter top as he wondered when they’d even bought that many. Smith followed her into the living room as she went to fetch her own cup.  
Katie simply smiled sweetly at him, the kettle beginning to whistle from the kitchen.  
“Katie! Seriously. No more tea, okay?” Smith called after her.

Following her into the kitchen once more, Smith began to stack his dirty cups on the top shelf of their small dishwasher.  
“Nothing’s changed…I’m still the same person.” Smith spoke in a quieter tone now, no hint of joking in his voice at all.  
“Look, I know. I’m sorry but…looking after you is something to do…” Katie’s own voice broke very slightly as she poured herself another cup of tea, refusing to meet Smith’s gaze.  
“Katie…” Smith was filled with empathy for his friend, barely even able to imagine what she was going through.  
She had left a few messages for Trott when she got back. Usually asking him to meet her and talk, all which had been ignored.

Smith decided to try himself, hoping he would be able to talk some sense into the man. He wrote a quick text, hoping that way it wouldn’t seem too imposing.  
‘Look mate, you’re always at me about talking about my problems. At least talk to her…she’s your soul mate.’

Smith got the results he hoped for not long after, in the form of Katie’s phone ringing. Panic clouded her face immediately,  
“It’s Trott! What do I do?”  
“Answer it!” Smith shouted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, leaving the room to allow her some privacy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I'm super sorry this took so long and I'm actually really nervous to see what you guys think about this chapter and about Smith's past...but thank you all so much for reading!!


	8. I'll be distant, the star's reminiscing

Ross dumped his bag by the door and breathed in deeply, drawing the smell of his childhood into his lungs. The soft hums of his mother as she cooked drifted from the kitchen, bringing the smell of cupcakes with it.  
Ross sighed; a weekend away was all that he needed to get a certain auburn haired prick out of his mind.

Ross knew what he would see in the kitchen, his mother would be wearing her pink apron over a pristine dress she would have picked out just for Ross’ visit, her greying blonde hair pulled into a lose bun that somehow sat perfect all day. She would have the kitchen as clean as possible; the only hint of her baking would be a light dusting of flour on her nose or cheeks.

He greeted his mother with a kiss on her cheek, she hadn’t heard him come in and a wide grin appeared on her face at seeing him. Putting her hands on his arms, she stepped back to examine him.  
“Sweetie, it’s so good to see you!” She pulled him in for a hug and he breathed in her perfume. It had been a while since Ross had made the simple hour journey to his parents and the look on his mother’s face along with all her effort of looking nice and baking made Ross feel guilty for staying away for so long.  
“Alright mum?” Ross grinned back.

Upon hearing the commotion, Ross heard the plonk of his dad as he made his way down the stairs.  
“Alright son?” Ross looked at his father, the man looked no different since Ross’ last visit. His mother had always said Ross was a carbon copy of his father. Ross sharing his smile and dark hair, even though it had greyed early.  
Ross returned his dad’s hug, counting down the seconds until somebody brought up the subject of soul mates.

To Ross’ amazement, the topic wasn’t brought up until after dinner, a beautiful traditional chicken dinner his mother had cooked.  
“So…Ross. How’re things? University and things?” His mother smiled with genuine interest but Ross’ heart still thud with nerves as he knew where this conversation was heading.  
“Yeah, they’re good. Uni keeps me really busy…” Ross shuffled awkwardly in his seat, the eyes of both his parents and brother on him.  
“Met any nice girls yet?” His mum delivered the question perfectly, as she had many times over the years. “Perhaps named Alex?”  
From across the table his father laughed, “Or boys…of course.” He quickly corrected his wife.  
“Not yet…” Ross sighed, feeling like he had disappointed them again.  
“Not to worry, son! You’re still young.” His dad’s smile never faltered and his mum patted his arm reassuringly.

Ross recalled the day the name had appeared on his wrist. He had been eighteen, making him older than everyone else in his family. His parents had got their names when they were both sixteen and his brothers had both gotten theirs when they were fifteen, meeting their soul mates not long after as well.

He hit the button on his screaming alarm clock and stood up, immediately checking his wrist for a name as he had done every morning since he had turned sixteen.  
Blinking through his sleep filled eyes, his hands flew to the thick letters that had appeared. He rubbed them, ensuring it wasn’t some sort of sick joke but he only succeeded in making his wrist red around the black writing.  
Almost falling over his own feet he practically tumbled into his brother’s bedroom, only just remembering to knock as he burst through the door. His brother stood in only a pair of jeans at his small mirror, fixing his hair. The covers rustled and Ross realised a minute too late that his brother’s soul mate Sally had snuck in and stayed the night.  
“Hey Ross,” She grinned, her head appearing from under the covers as she sat up slightly.  
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!” Ross almost jumbled his words in his haste to get them out. Seb ushered him out of the room quickly, looking more amused than angry.

“God Ross,” He sighed closing the bedroom door behind him.  
“Sorry! I’m so sorry,”  
“What did you want?” His brother brushed off the apology.  
“I got it!” Ross held up his wrist, showing the name off. Seb furrowed his eyebrows, spending a moment in thought before a bemused smile crossed his face.  
“Hey Alex, Ross has your name on his wrist!” Seb laughed loudly as he called out to their other brother who appeared at his own bedroom door in pyjamas with a confused look on his face. Ross sighed and held his arm up, showing off the name with less enthusiasm now.

Alex crossed the landing and examined his wrist laughing, “I know I’m your favourite brother but Ross…sorry to disappoint buddy, I’ve already met my soul mate.”  
On his other side Seb lost himself in a fit of laughter and Ross playfully punched him on the arm, putting some strength into it hoping he would stop.  
“Nah, this handwriting’s very girly looking. Could be an Alexandra,” His brother grew serious and patted him on the arm, “Congrats bro!” He smiled, returning to his room.

“Yeah man, for real. We’re happy for you!” Seb added, also growing more seriously. “Are you gonna tell mum and dad?”  
“Of course! They’ve been asking every day for like two years now…”  
“Good luck!” Seb laughed, “Don’t tell them Sal was here!” He called as he went back to his bedroom.

Ross returned back to his own room and threw his school uniform on, quickly fixing his hair with a bit of gel and deciding he was ready for the day. He grabbed his school bag and headed down the stairs, nerves beginning to build as he prepared to tell his parents.

In the kitchen, his mother sat at the kitchen table sipping a cup of tea as his father made breakfast, his specialty of bacon and eggs. Their small TV was on showing a row of flowers surrounding a lamp post. Ross recognised the street; it was on the other side of town and had been on the news quite a few times over the past couple of months.  
“Quite sad isn’t it,” His mother commented as he entered the room. “Six months later and they’re still putting flowers where that girl died in that accident,” His mother filled him in on the current news story.  
“I heard it was her soul mate, puts fresh flowers there every week,” His dad added sombrely. “Wouldn’t go on the news to talk about it though,”  
“Can you blame them? Imagine losing your soul mate so young? I think she was about your age, Ross.” Ross heard the pain in his mum’s voice and focused on doing the opposite of what she had said and not imagining anything.  
“Anyway, that’s enough of that. You look chipper today,” His dad tried to lighten the mood, switching the news off.  
“Actually yeah…I got it,” Ross smile wasn’t as wide as it had been originally, the news story clouding his mind but he held his wrist up anyway.

His mum was up from the table within seconds, the fastest he had seen her move. She took his wrist gently, examining it closely and tracing each letter lightly with a finger.  
“Congratulations son!” His dad patted him on the back happily as his mum pulled him into a close hug, a beaming smile on her face.  
“Now you just have to find her!” His mum pulled back, still beaming at him.  
“Or him!” His dad laughed inputting,  
“Yes of course…but that handwriting does look rather girly!” His mum laughed back as she pointed at the curl of the 'L' and Ross smiled at both of them, happy he finally had a name.

Ross pulled himself from his memories with a heavy sigh, six years later and he still hadn’t found his soul mate. He wondered to himself if he was actually ever going to find them.  
He had grown up to think that soul mates were the most important thing in life, not necessarily in a bad obsessive way though, he had learnt it from watching how his parents had been so happy.  
They had found each other quite early and life had been simple for them, get married, have kids…they had always had each other to depend on and growing up, Ross had watched how much they loved each other and he knew that was all he wanted.

The day his oldest brother, Alex, had found his soul mate had been one of so much joy, they had fallen in love almost instantly and within a couple weeks he had brought her to the house. Not long after that they were moving in together and planning a wedding.  
They had travelled all around the world together, sending post cards from Australia, America and all over Europe and when they visited at Christmas; Ross couldn’t help but notice the way his brother looked at his wife…as if everything was right in the world.  
So Ross pined harder for his own soul mate.

Now Seb, only 20 and still living at home, was planning his own wedding and Ross found himself jealous of his younger brother.

Being home only reminded him of the soul mate he hadn’t met. At least when he was at Uni, living with Trott was okay because Trott hadn’t found his soul mate either. Until just before Ross had left for the weekend that is…now he had no idea what he was going home to. Was Trott going to move in with Katie? Was Katie going to move in with them? Surely, if she did, she’d bring Smith too? And would that really be such a bad thing…?

Ross stopped the flow of thoughts where they were. He reminded himself of his strict ‘no thinking about Smith’ policy he had set on the drive to his parents. They had only slept together once, slept being a lose term for what had even happened. So why was Ross suddenly so obsessed with him?

The harder Ross tried to get Smith out of his mind, the more he thought about him. He was beginning to drive himself crazy when his dad interrupted him.

Sitting on the sofa beside Ross, his dad looked at him with a slightly cocked head.  
“Now that your mother isn’t here,” He chuckled, “You have that look…is there someone we should know about?”  
“No.” Ross cursed himself for answering so quickly,  
“Well, son, believe it or not…I do know that look.” His dad looked amused at his son’s confusion, “Quite simply you look miserable…so I figured there’s either someone who’s not your soul mate…or someone who is,”  
Ross sighed heavily, “There’s a guy…” He started and his dad grinned smugly, the words ‘I knew it’ written all over his face but he stayed quiet, letting his son continue.  
“And he’s not my soul mate or anything…at least I think. But I sort of…can’t stop thinking about him…?” Ross realised how ridiculous the words sounded, especially as he was speaking them to his father. He hadn’t wanted to bother Trott with this and he thought it may have been weird, considering Smith was his friend. He also wasn’t even sure Trott knew something had happened between them.

“You’re not sure if he’s your soul mate?” His dad raised an eyebrow, drawing Ross from his thoughts of Trott.  
“Uh, yeah…I sort of…don’t know his first name?”  
His father laughed, shaking his head as well.  
“Well, have you tried talking to this man, perhaps asking his name?” His father asked the question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
“Well…we sort of, uh…” Ross felt himself grow red. He had never talked to his father about his sex life and he definitely wasn’t starting now, “Some stuff happened and uh, now I feel weird asking his name. It clearly meant nothing to him…”  
His father shook his head now, knowing what Ross meant without having to ask and chuckling again.  
“You won’t know if you don’t ask,” His father said simply, offering a warm reassuring hand on his son’s shoulder.

The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully with no more talk of soul mates or Smith and on Sunday night, Ross packed his bag into his car in preparation of driving home.  
He gave his brother a gentle punch on the arm and a quick one armed hug; next he hugged his dad tightly.  
“Don’t forget to ask,” his dad whispered quietly, earning them both a stern look from his mother for whispering.  
His mum hugged him tightly, for slightly longer than Ross hoped but he returned her hug all the same and agreed when she asked him to promise that he would visit again really soon, or at least call more often.  
And then he was in his car on the motorway back towards the flat, wondering how Trott was.

“Trott?” Ross called as he dropped his bag by the door and kicked his shoes off.  
From down the hall of their apartment he heard Trott’s door open and Trott appeared a second later, wearing only a pair of boxers and a hoodie, he had a huge grin on his face.  
“Alright?” Ross asked, his face slightly clouded with confusion at the other man’s huge grin.  
“Alright mate…Katie’s here, so can we chat tomorrow?” Trott blushed as the words left his mouth.  
“Oh-uh, yeah of course!” Ross remained just as confused; when he had left Trott had been fuming at his soul mate for keeping it from him. “I would, uh, go out but honestly I have nowhere to go,” Ross chuckled.  
“No, mate, I don’t expect you to go out!” He laughed, “But you could have a look at the GameCube if you want…it’s on the fritz again.” Behind him Katie appeared in another one of his hoodies and a pair of his pyjama bottoms.  
“Hey,” She smiled warmly at him, “If you need help fixing it, Smith’s really good at fixing up old consoles!”  
“Uh, thanks. I’ll see what I can do and let you, uh, get back to it,” He winked at Trott earning a giggle from Katie and a punch in the arm from Trott.

He spent most of the night jiggling wires and hooking them up to different ports on the TV hoping one would finally work. After almost two hours at it, he threw the towel in. The GameCube was one of his favourite consoles, a cheeky bit of Super Mario Sunshine always cheered him up on a bad day and he wasn’t giving up on it completely just yet.  
Packing it all into a large box, he decided he would bring it to Smith the next day and see if there was anything he could do. He considered his dad’s words from the night before. He could always just ask Trott, he was sure to have known considering they went to school…but he didn’t want to bother Trott with what was probably just a stupid crush.  
His dad was right, he would never properly know if he didn’t ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so I did a light bit of Facebook stalking which informed me that Ross actually legit has a brother called Alex? So I kinda hate myself rn but the more you know, right? hahaha the things i do for fanfiction, i feel so creepy oh man  
> But anyway, sorry, rambling again...oops  
> Hope this answered some things and I hope you guys enjoy <3


	9. Your heart's been wasted on me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha so i'm super nervous about posting this chapter which is why it's late (also, exams, gross), but anyway sorry this is so late!!

It had been almost three hours since Katie had gone to meet Trott and Smith realised that Katie probably wouldn’t be back tonight.  
He laughed out loud at his own naivety and muttered to himself that he was an idiot, the noise seeming to almost echo in the empty apartment even though it was barely a mumble.  
With not much else to do he settled on the sofa for a peaceful night of work and revision.

The next morning he was drawn out of bed by a knock on the door. He had heard Katie come home not long before and smiled to himself, things had obviously went well there.  
Dragging himself out of bed he threw on a pair of pyjama bottoms and shuffled to the door as he fixed them in place. He swung the door open as he finally untangled and fixed the waistband into place and immediately met the ice blue of a pair of eyes he had been avoiding for what must of been weeks.

Ross smiled awkwardly and shuffled from foot to foot, a large box in his hand.  
“Uh, hi. Sorry –are you just up? It’s like 2pm,” Ross laughed awkwardly as he shuffled. “Uh, sorry. I thought you’d be up.”  
“It’s alright, mate. What’s up?” Smith forced a slightly enthusiastic tone, unloading his past horrors to Katie had actually helped and he found the usual hate he held for his soul mate had significantly lessened.  
“Uh…Trott said you were good with your hands.” Ross’ eyes widened as he almost physically kicked himself, “Fuck, uh. Good at fixing things.” Smith laughed at his poor attempts to fix his wording.

“I have an old Nintendo GameCube and it broke. Trott said you were really good at fixing stuff like this and I know it’s unexpected and stuff but I was wondering if you could take a look…?” Ross spoke slowly, ensuring he wouldn’t mess up again.  
Smith laughed again and held the door open for him, a new found giddiness had come with the realisation he didn’t actually absolutely hate Ross anymore. Damn Trott for always being right, he thought to himself.

Ross shuffled awkwardly into the living room and set the box on the coffee table, beginning to pull wires and such out of the box.  
Smith examined the back of the TV, humming slightly as he decided the maze of wires there were too tangled to start messing about with, he would sort them all out when he had some free time, probably.  
“Actually, this might be easier in the bedroom,” He stated, stepping out from behind the TV stand.  
“Um, what?” Ross laughed awkwardly in an attempt to cover his slightly widened eyes.  
“The TV in there’s got a lot less wires, I can set it up better…” Smith explained.

Ross nodded and lifted the GameCube, Smith grabbing the controller he almost dropped just as it slid off the top. Ross nodded his thanks with another awkward chuckle and followed Smith into his bedroom.

Looking around the still messy room, Ross couldn’t help but let his mind wonder to the night they had spent there together.  
Ross’ brain conjured up the image of them laying together under the covers of Smith’s bed, sticky and sweaty, the alcohol making Ross’ body so heavy he couldn’t’ even imagine getting up to clean up. A decision he later regretted.  
Having chosen to snuggle into Smith’s back instead, a shoulder both literally and metaphorically cold that he pressed his face into anyway, ignoring the way his heart sped up and everything felt right.

“Ross?” Smith pulled Ross out of his thoughts and he realised he had been staring at the bed. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he handed the GameCube to Smith who instantly began to play about with the wires, hooking things up to his TV to get a better idea of what was wrong.  
“Alright lads, fancy a cuppa?” Katie appeared at the door, smiling coyly at them both. Smith nodded, busy with wires, Ross verbalising his ‘yes please’.

Smith finally finished hooking up the console to the TV as Katie entered the room with a mug in each hand, handing one directly to Ross and setting the other on the bedside cabinet.  
She sunk to the bed, watching Smith as he switched the TV and GameCube on, the black screen flashing a ‘no signal’ message.  
“Well…it’s definitely broken,” He laughed heartily and Ross’ stomach flipped.  
“Very perceptive there Smith,” Katie laughed as she exited the room again, quickly bored of watching Smith as he pretended to know what he was doing.

“Okay so we have an old Nintendo 64 and I think the wires are the same…so I can use those wires to see if it’s just one of the wires playing up?” Smith scratched his stubbly beard as he thought, captivating Ross’ attention once again.

Smith pulled on a hoodie as he left Ross alone in the room. Ross sank to Smith’s desk chair, not wanting to disturb anything in the room and give Smith any more reasons for disliking him.  
He wrapped both cold hands around his cup of warm tea as he resisted the urge to snoop around Smith’s empty room, telling himself to stop being a noisy fucker.  
Just then the door opened, signified by a light brushing against the carpet of Smith’s floor and Katie entered, a small pile of white envelopes in her hand.

“Smith’s mail,” She grinned coyly at Ross again, clearly thinking of a private joke she didn’t wish to share.  
She set the mail on the desk beside Ross’ current position and smiled once more before leaving the room again.

Setting down his cup of tea, Ross couldn’t resist the urge to peek at Smith’s mail. What better way to find his name out anyway, the brilliant thought occurred to him.

Picking up the top plain envelope from the pile, Ross could have sworn that his heart stopped.  
The air was sucked out of his lungs as he looked at the clearly printed name on the envelope…  
Mr. Alex Smith.

Ross’ hadn’t actually expected it. Thought about it, sure, but never actually believed it.  
He _had _come with the hidden aim of finding out Smith’s actual name but never in a million years did he actually think it would match the one on his wrist.  
Ross’ stomach twisted as he gripped the letter so tightly his fingers turned white, world spinning as he added things up in his head.__

___Judging from Smith’s entire attitude towards Ross, it was apparent that he must have had Ross’ name on his wrist too._  
Ross thought back to the first day they had met, the smile that had faltered as Ross had introduced himself.  
The cold glaze that had taken over Smith’s eyes as Trott had asked if he was okay.  
That _fucker _had known all along…Ross’ initial shock turned to anger as things became clear in his head.__

_______His brain ran through the past few months since they had met, putting reason to all of Smith’s behaviour._  
He had hated Ross, made it obvious.  
Then he had avoided Ross, made that obvious too.  
Then the bit that Ross couldn’t explain, he had invited him into his bed and let him spend the night basically spooning him, all while knowing a nameless force of nature had destined them to be together. 

_______Ross didn’t even hear the door open; he was a million miles away. Only returning to the room when Smith called his name and asked if he was okay, he stood. His legs shook and he placed his free hand on the back of the desk chair to steady himself._  
“You knew…” His voice was quiet, broken and felt like it wasn’t even coming from his own body.  
He finally brought his eyes to Smith’s face as Smith finally noticed the letter in his hand and added the pieces together.  
Smith opened and closed his mouth a couple times, imitating a goldfish, physically unable to speak or even think of anything to say. 

_______“You fucking asshole!” Ross voice was definitely no longer quiet; he now had to almost physically steady it to keep it below a shout._  
Physically unable to look at Smith anymore, he turned his back to the other man. He thought back to the girl called Alex he had introduced them to, adding stupidity to his current range of emotions.  
At his side his hands balled into fists and he fought the need to hit something with them.  
“Ross…” Smith’s own voice was gentler than Ross had ever heard it, filled with guilt and making Ross turn back to face him.  
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…I have my reasons though,” Smith’s voice grew hard, defensive.  
“I get it, I’m not what you expected, right? I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” Ross’ voice was harsh with anger, the undertones of hurt nipping at Smith’s already towering feelings of guilt. 

_______A hundred emotions flashing through Smith’s eyes as he planned his words._  
When he finally spoke, his voice was so broken that Ross’ chest ached to give the other man a hug or at least comfort him in some way.  
“I was never worried that you wouldn’t be enough…I was worried I wouldn’t be enough, okay?”  
Ross physically stepped back, he could feel his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. 

____“These names…they determine everything…you can’t change them. Once you meet the person, that’s it. You assume you’re gonna be with them, forever. And I was so worried that once I met you…well, I was worried that I wasn’t enough,” Smith paused to take a deep breath, “I mean, look at me…I’m nothing special. I’m just…me, ordinary me.” Smith spoke slowly as he thought out his words._ _ _ _

____“Smith- Alex.” Ross corrected himself, “I sort of get that. I just don’t get why you hated me.” His voice was so much softer now, forgiving.  
“Well it’s a long story but, in a way…hating you was just so much easier than imaging up a version of you that probably didn’t exist. That way, if we ever met, I didn’t have a bunch of expectations for you to meet,” Smith finally met Ross’ eyes as the sincerity that lay in them drained the last of Ross’ anger._ _ _ _

______Ross crossed the space between them, shocking Smith by placing a hand each side of his face and pulling him close.  
Their lips met with an electric spark, giving Ross the same feeling of peace he had felt the night they spent together.  
Smith leant into the kiss instantly, surprising both Ross and himself by pulling the other man close and wrapping his arms around Ross’ back to ensure no space was left between them._ _

____“You, Alex Smith-” Ross broke the kiss, lightly pressing his own forehead against his newfound soul mate’s, “-are anything but ordinary.” Ross pulled back to make eye contact, ensuring Smith took his words seriously.  
Smith closed the gap between them this time, pulling Ross’ hips close and closing the distance between their lips again, a new passion in his kiss._ _ _ _

_______The sound of an excited squeal from the doorway broke the moment as both men pulled back to find the source. At the doorway an excited Katie stood, clapping her hands lightly as she beamed at them._  
“You did this!” Smith shouted at her with an amused tone, piecing the parts together.  
“-and Trott!” Ross chimed in, coming to the same conclusion as his soul mate.  
“That’s my cue to go!” The still overly excited girl grinned at the doorway before darting off a minute later, the sound of the front door closing shortly after. 

_______Smith and Ross looked at each other, laughing slightly at the sudden awkward tension growing in the room._  
“Can we start over?” Smith asked, his eyes serious again.  
“Yes,” Ross smiled at him.  
“I’m Alex, Alex Smith. And I believe I have your name on my wrist.” Smith held his wrist, name outwards, up to the other man.  
Ross laughed, “I’m Ross Hornby and I believe that I have your name on my wrist too,” Ross held his own arm up to mirror the other man. 

____Smith looked at the other man’s wrist, a look of almost disbelief, awe perhaps, on his face as he stepped closer to the other man once more._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow so this has over 1000 hits, I'm beyond words, thank you guys so much omg??  
> Honestly just thank you all so much for reading this wow <3


	10. Tell Me It's Okay To Be Happy Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man, gosh i am so sorry this took sooooo long, ive been sitting on this for a lil while but mostly ive just been unbelievably busy oh man sorry

Ross studied his figure in the full-length mirror as he smoothed the tux jacket down over his torso. He buttoned the jacket, cocked his head to each side for perspective, immediately unbuttoning it again and sighing.  
“Alright mate?” Trott burst into the room like an excited puppy, his shirt hanging unbuttoned and untucked over a white under-shirt.  
“Aw, look at you!” He reinforced his excited words with a hard pat to Ross’ shoulder, almost knocking Ross off the small pedestal he stood on.

“God, someone’s excited,” Ross groaned. He had realised, perhaps a tad too late, that having a stag do the night before a wedding was probably not such a great idea, even though he had been the only one to feel it the next day, apparently.  
“You should be too! Once in a lifetime thing! Probably…” Trott grinned at his own joke as he began to button his shirt up, standing between Ross and the mirror.  
Ross sighed as he stepped down from the small pedestal and began to pace the room nervously.

Sighing with relief at the knock on the door, Ross used it as an excuse to slip away from the excited tension Trott had filled their dressing room with. Slipping a quick look over his shoulder with one hand on the door handle, he chuckled as Trott hadn’t even heard the door, instead taking to dancing around the room.  
Opening the door very slightly, Ross simply slipped out into the hallway through the narrow crack.

“You shouldn’t be here!” Ross giggled as he pulled his boyfriend closer, cutting off the defensive protests of the other man as their lips met.  
“I had to see you…” Smith smiled a sheepish grin, his cheeks reddening. He stepped back, taking a moment to fully examine his boyfriend’s tux with wide eyes and Ross did the same, a red blush beginning to creep up his neck under Smith’s loving gaze.

“You look great!” A coy grin replaced Smith’s innocent smile as he pulled Ross close again, “I can’t wait to get that suit off you later,” His voice dropped down to a whisper, keeping the words hushed and secret just between the two of them.  
“Ooooh, you filthy bugger,” Ross laughed, accentuating his English accent before bringing their lips to meet again.  
“Listen, I’d better get back…I’ll see you out there?” Smith let his lips linger on Ross’ for a moment longer than he should, not wanting to break their kiss but knowing he had to get back.  
“And tell Trott to hurry up and get dressed…it’s about to start!” Smith finally broke the kiss as Ross chuckled.  
“You know him too well…” Ross retorted, slipping back into the dressing room behind him as Smith disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Smith slipped back into his own dressing room, closing the door lightly behind him.  
“Smith?” Katie called from around the corner, her voice full of nerves.  
“Yeah, can I come in now?”  
“Yeah…I suppose.” The girl sighed, her usual bouncy Scottish accent lay flat with little emotion.

Smith covered his eyes with a hand as he felt the wall, guiding himself around the corner.  
“You can look…” Katie’s voice was serious, heavy with worry.  
Smith removed his hand, slowly opening his eyes and he gasped.

“Katie!” He covered his mouth with a hand, not wanting to embarrass her but unable to hold his emotions back, “You look so beautiful,”  
Katie’s entire face sagged with relief as she examined herself in the mirror for what Smith knew was probably the 100th time.  
“I don’t know…” She smoothed the dress down over her stomach like it was habit, making sure the fabric sat perfect. “It seemed much nicer in the boutique fitting room…”

Smith crossed the room to stand between her and the mirror as he pulled her into a tight hug, reassuring her.  
“You have no idea how amazing you look, I promise.” Smith met her eyes as she finally nodded, confident he wasn’t lying and filled with reassurance.

“Help me with my veil?” She asked, holding a white piece of mesh connected to a hair clip, “Just slide the plastic part in,” She laughed at Smith’s blank stare.  
“This is why you should have gotten actual bridesmaids,” He muttered as he fixed the thin white veil into place over her curling red locks.  
“I don’t have any sisters and my best friends pretty much consist of you and Ross…” She laughed back. “It’s not like we’d have the perfect ‘conventional’ wedding anyway!”

Smith checked his watch, action time, he told himself. Smiling nervously at Katie to let her know, he stepped back to examine her dress once more.  
It was perfect for her, ‘a sweet-heart neckline with a full flowing ball gown skirt that reached the floor and trailed behind’. Smith swore he could have recited that in his sleep, the amount of times he had heard Katie say it over the past few weeks as she gushed about the dress to him.  
“Okay…” Smith checked his watch and nodded, “It’s time, wait here and I’ll make sure everything’s ready.” Smith dropped Katie’s hand as they reached the door of the ceremony room, opening it a slight crack to peek through.

The ceremony room was perfect, a mix between a church and a ball room. The alter consisted of a large wooden arch, roses and lilies wound through the bars. Just behind the arch stood the minster and just under the arch stood Trott, a vacant space beside him where Katie would meet him. From the arch to the back of the room ran a thin red carpet, perfectly matching the colour of the roses that decorated the room. Seats lined either side of the carpet in fives. The guest list was not long as it solely consisted of the families and friends of both Katie, Trott, Smith and Ross, as they had all grown to know each other.  
The small sitting of people made the room look larger, drawing more attention to the huge almost wall-length windows that let the sunlight in, giving the room a beautiful natural glow.

Meeting Ross’ eyes from the door, Smith grinned, having a hard time breaking their eye contact. He winked, making Ross’ giggle from the alter where he stood beside a nervous, jittering Trott, who luckily hadn’t noticed Smith.

Nodding to the band at the side of the room to let them know Katie was ready; his nerves grew as he closed the door again.  
“It’s all good!” Smith nodded to Katie, her arm now linked with her dads, who grinned at them both.  
“You’d think you were both going to a funeral,” He laughed at their faces before kissing the top of his daughter’s head and wishing her good luck.

Smith took the trail of Katie’s dress as he handed her the bouquet of flowers in his hand, grabbing his own little bunch of flowers from the table.  
Taking a final deep breath, he grinned at Katie and her father opened the door as the room stood.

The wedding flew by, Trott and Katie said their vows and before he realised, Smith was tipsy on free wine and falling over his own oversized feet in slightly too stiff shoes.

“Hey Ross! There you are, I thought you were avoiding me,” Smith laughed, slightly louder than he meant to, finally finding his boyfriend at the bar. “Come dance with me!”  
“Hey, actually, I was hoping we could talk?”  
Smith’s stomach dropped, sobering him up slightly almost instantly.

“C’mon, it’s a wedding, don’t look so serious!” Smith laughed to hide his sudden wave of nervousness, pulling Ross close to hear him over the blaring music.  
“Well…it’s technically almost our two year anniversary too…” Ross started, nervously, “Tomorrow actually, if Trott’s and Katie’s is today…” He laughed awkwardly, working things out in his head.  
“Aw geez Ross, you’re not gonna propose are you?” Smith laughed it off as a joke before realising he may have put his foot in his mouth.

Ross’ face dropped at the joke, inducing another wave of panic through Smith but the other man’s face lifted again as he brushed it off.  
“No, I’m not gonna propose you twat,” Ross punched him lightly in the shoulder for emphasis, “Buuuuut, I was going to suggest we go away for a while…like a holiday. God knows we both deserve it after all that wedding planning…”  
Smith took a minute to process the idea before allowing the shit-eating grin to cross his face.

***

Ross slipped his hand into his boyfriends, the sky was especially grim today, fitting for a cemetery visit. Peering at the slippery marble headstone in front of him, Ross felt...pain. His chest was hurting for the man he had come to love so much, having not only lived through losing his soul mate but having kept it all inside, letting it rot, letting it turn him bitter...Ross was almost speechless.  
"Thank you for coming with me," Smith placed the fresh flowers on the grass in front of the head stone.  
Ross nodded his reassurance, unable to form words around his own sadness at how broken his boyfriend sounded.  
He had realised why Smith had never told him this, had hated him and pushed him away. Ross couldn't imagine ever having a second soul mate, another to come and replace the love he had lost, even thinking about it sent a shiver up his spine.  
Smith, having noticed the shiver, pulled his boyfriend closer. Wrapping him in a tight hug, Ross didn't know who needed it more, him or Smith.  
Another glance at the head stone reminded him it was probably Smith.

Suddenly pulling back, Smith beamed at him, almost like someone had flipped a switch.  
"Right, no more of that. We have a plane to catch," He laughed, taking Ross' hand and leading him back to the car.

***

No more than a week later, the sudden pressure of a head on his shoulder woke Smith. Rubbing his sleep filled eyes with his free hand, he turned his head just enough without waking his boyfriend to see the trail of dribble currently soaking into his shirt. Smiling to himself he snuggled closer to the other man, not caring about the new dark patch on his grey HUF t-shirt.  
Uncrossing his cramping legs, he silently cursed the tiny allocation of leg room on the plane, especially for tall people, but ignored it as he leant his head on top of his boyfriends and let sleep drown out his salty thoughts once more.

No more than a couple hours later, Smith chased Ross around their hotel room in giggles as they fought for the only big towel.  
“I’m bigger you fucker, I need it,” Smith gasped for air between laughs as Ross successfully dodged his grip once more, an idea taking over his face suddenly.  
“It’s the only big towel and I called dibs,” Ross stuck his tongue out as he dodged out the door.  
Fumbling to pull his shoes on quickly, Smith darted after his soul mate, cursing the other man as he did.

“Twat!” Smith called, finally catching up to the other man, slightly out of breath.  
Slipping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist, Ross pulled Smith close enough to plant a light kiss on his temple, making Smith instantly forget about the towel.  
Luckily the beach wasn’t far from their hotel, just awkward to find but after finally locating it, the men settled side by side on two free loungers.

Smith’s phone buzzed just as Ross returned with two rather flamboyant, bright pink cocktails in his hands.  
“Couldn’t even bear to be away for more than a day,” Smith joked about the incoming Facetime call from Katie before answering it.

“Just wanted to see if you guys landed okay and things!” Katie smiled on the screen, beside her Trott pulled faces as they lay on a beach, similar to Ross’ and Smith’s own setting.  
“Yeah! We got here not long ago and this arse has already stolen our only big towel!” Smith laughed, pretending to shoot daggers at Ross who smiled sheepishly in return.  
“Well, seems like everything’s normal there then!” Katie giggled.  
“How’re you guys? Still hungover?” Ross smiled smugly at them, recalling the drunken haze of wedding.  
From the other side of the call came two groans, answering their question.  
“You’d think after almost a week, it’d a least be a little better…” Trott groaned.  
“Listen, we were just checking in. So we’ll let you two get back to relaxing…I’ll call in a couple days!” With a quick kiss blown to the camera, Katie was gone again.

Smith sat back on the lounger as the sun soaked into his bare chest, warming him from head to toe. Beside him Ross loudly sipped his cocktail, occasionally stopping to flick the beads of condensation at his boyfriend and giggling at himself every time Smith flinched at the cold water’s contact.

Smith looked at his soul mate, the sun highlighting Ross’ grey streaks of hair, bringing out freckles that weren’t normally there and reflecting in the ice-blue of eyes like the waves that rolled only feet away and Smith beamed…a genuine smile which could barely contain his happiness as he watched his soul mate, the love of his life, grinning his own perfect lopsided grin and Smith’s heart soared. 

Smith slipped his hand into Ross’ free one resting on the arm of the lounger, making sure his wrist was facing outwards, making sure the world could see the name of the man he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this one's over, Im so bummed, this was fun to write  
> But I am working on something really really big & I am super duper excited to see what you guys think!!  
> But because its so big, im gonna try and get at least half wrote before i even post the first chapter  
> if, however, you would like updates, i've made some accounts to put all my fics together & update about when theyll be posted and things  
> you can follow me on zb-writes.tumblr.com or on twitter @zb_writes  
> thank you guys so much for sticking with me on this one


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